Coming from the other side of the pond, I have no axe to grind, I also have absolutely NO idea what is going on. being used to putting an x on a piece
of paper that goes into a box which is sealed and only opened and counted under scrutiny. Caucus, precincts, counties, computers and all the people
shouting, it is all very different.

So from outside I see 5 points.

1 One candidate seems to have the financial backing to get the publicity and result they want.

2 For a candidate in an election (If that is what it is?) to come from so far back is a bit unusual..Seen horse races like that and the
horses/riders/owners being investigated.

3 It seems to me that everyone will remember the first result (As an earlier poster commented) and any later changes will be a bit unnoticed.

4 Publicity looks to be so important and who shouts loudest is the winner, I can only liken it to a yacht race with one yacht without any sails, it
might be there but it aint going nowhere.

5 In recent elections, in the Middle East I think, did not the US have some observers making sure everything was above board? Makes you wonder a
bit.

All in all, I suppose any election can be influenced and a result brought, but it is important that wherever possible things should be open and above
board and it is the public that should demand this and ask for reasons if they suspect any miss-dealing occurring.

After all, the worlds security might just be at stake here, so no pressure then.

I would think that if there were evidence of Republican chicanery at the polls the Democrats would be all over it in the news regardless of it being
between one Republican and another as opposed to a Democratic opponent.

I think it is a very interesting conundrum we find ourselves in. There are credible accusations of voter fraud or some kind of manipulation, be it
human error or whatever that slightly changed the turnout in Iowa, but at the same time the vote itself is really nothing more than a straw poll. So
do people who are able argue the vote turnout proceed with that argument? Or do we let it slide because of it's unimportance, which just from
watching the news last month was important sometimes just depending on who was on top at the time.
I think what it really shows is that we need some kind of new system of voting, or perhaps better oversight over the systems we have in place.
One thing that got me about the whole thing is that the Romney and Santorum campaign agreed about the results while people were still trying to figure
out where the votes had went off two from the last two counties in Iowa, so I suppose that could mean a number of things. That on top of the fact
that the caucuses lasted hours longer than the 08 caucuses did. But I think the Caucuses themselves are a bit overplayed and all the candidates in
the top three were happy with where they finished. So I think I would let this ride until either some sort of credible info came to pass that showed
voter fraud in the hundreds or thousands in Iowa, or be more vigilant in keeping track of who votes for who when it really counts, like delagate votes
and such.

I would think that if there were evidence of Republican chicanery at the polls the Democrats would be all over it in the news regardless of it being
between one Republican and another as opposed to a Democratic opponent.

I would have think that too in the past. But seeing how much anti-democratic this systme is with only two parties ... they all sleep in the same bed.
Voting fraud occurs everytime and almost everywhere. The vast majority of people are in denial about that. Democrats cheats too, so exposing he
republicans is no gain.

If I lived in Iowa I'd be ballistic. I'm contacting the GOP HQ in Virginia.

How is it in this day and age millions of transactions are completes each day over the debit card network instantaneously generating permanently
verifiable unique transaction numbers yet the most important transactions are tallied by a murky secretive proprietary system prone to fraud and
manipulation?

Look at the ATS flag system for instance. For a pittance compared to the diabolical diebold voting machines, ATS has a superiorly more honest system.

How is it in this day and age millions of transactions are completes each day over the debit card network instantaneously generating permanently
verifiable unique transaction numbers yet the most important transactions are tallied by a murky secretive proprietary system prone to fraud and
manipulation?

It's the elephant in the room. A non spoken truth. A destroyer of the democratic believe system.

It's like Obama. You introduce something new and promise change and security and you'll end up with change but many many elephants.

I thin the elephant population grows bigger and bigger everday, and some elephants themselves too

I don't know how many times I've said it now at ATS, but I'll say it one more time, with feeling - Romney WILL be the GOP nominee. He's the
fair-haired boy, the pick of TPTB for that side of the ticket, meaning that there is NO difference between he and Obama, so they don't care which wins
- their boy WILL be in the White House, whichever "side" wins.

Just like McCain was last election cycle. Vote. Vote away. it matters not at all, they've already stacked the deck in their favor.

Everyone else in the "running" is only for show... the Dog and Pony Show.

It's a neocon gambit to retain operational control of the GOP for the neocon "leftists". A conservative doesn't have a prayer in US politics, and
hasn't since around 1990. That's why I get a kick out of Progressives ranting and raving about "conservatives" in politics. There are none.

Don't forget her little group was tied to no other than Anders Behring Breivik "Norway Killer". But shes not just doing all this on her own she works
through Sam Adams Alliance. Hell she won a sammies award for being the best propagandist on the internet for them.

Oh here she is with "Joe The Plumber" His name is not Joe and he is not a plumber.

Yes that said Koch in that title. Thats because they help run and fund the Sammy project of internet propaganda for the right. Bringing you things
like the Pimp at Acorn. He was not a pimp and edited all the films before releasing to try and make a story. He was latter aressted for breaking into
government buildings and he even tried to create fake stories about Occupy Wall Street.

So I rate the story in this thread a BS.

edit on 6-1-2012 by JBA2848 because: (no reason given)

Why has no one responded to this post, or have I missed the response? It's very interesting IMO if just for who owns the source of the OP. I don't
think Ron is racist but he receives support from the crazies as well the sane. I would think that regardless of your candidate loyalty, the source of
any story should be considered. Even if a story supports your views, it should be investigated as to it legitimacy, otherwise you end up making a fool
of your position. Deny Ignorance as they say, for your own reputation and characters sake. That said, I will be amazed if Paul wins the nomination.
If he does it will be a strange day in America. It will prove either that there is still hope in the system, or he is not what he appears to be. I
have always been a Paul fan, but I accepted a long time ago that the modern election system is a scam. So, just to see him doing as well as he is
surprises me.

I'm voting for Skeptic Overlord and Springer for President - Because 2013 will never happen. =)

EASY... WHAT ELSE IS NEW? This is the norm for the whole dam BS presidental Race and all other BS voting and money raising tactics. They should use
their own stolden money... Newt... Romney....Obama...Clinton...Bush..etc!!!. Why donate a cent?... They've already stolden the whole dam
system....media ...voting machines [made in China]...old news which sux.... send them another piece of technology.. Couple drones...X 37B...F-15...F-
18's... and dam sub with a n Aircraft carrier... what ever! Good Luck to Ron Paul ..but I have given all I can spare and they are gonna squeeze him
out of the whole vote... Just watch..obvious...votes have all been counted.
Then the famous electorial Vote ..What and the HELL is That?
Lord God someone explain that crap sandwich to us all.
I can only try to think of a place on this earth to move to and never hear a dam word from this empirer of ego Devil lying POS. Anyone know of a
place to go? PLZ rsvp. We are doomed. Sean Hannity.pos..O'unRealiable.O'reilly....FOX paid off news like all the others... What a drag to listen to
one more lye.
Excuse me while I go puke on the TV....

No one "won" anything anyway...so it really doesn't matter. The only thing that would come out of this if Iowa changes the results is that the
Iowa GOP looks like a bunch of morons....and they aren't going to do that to themselves.

I think some of you are giving the Iowa Caucus way too much importance.

Though I do agree... one thing overlooked a lot in these discussions about these polls is that unfortunately many people DO place way to much
importance on these results. They can be key in swinging momentum in certain directions. My own experience shows that many people don't research
their own candidates...they just follow the pack or what MSM tells them. In their minds, "It's Iowa!!" and, " He/she must be the right candidate
to win that....", etc. The "herd mentality" kicks in and people start to flock toward who appears to be getting the coverage.

Aside from that, if this IS hacking, that should send warnings to everyone that our election system has the potential to be rigged, even if it is just
a small poll....for now.

What do we do when we predict outcomes? I think that often we hope for a different outcome if we are predicting the worst. If we are cynical, deep
down inside, we really want the world to be different and better.
All of those that predict that Romney will get the nod, they are probably right. But, I will never admit that I think it is likely. I hate to resign
myself to failure. It doesn't mean you are wrong and I am right.
Yes, I understand how the political machine has been refined while the people slept. I know that the obstacle for people that want real
representative government is seemingly insurmountable. I understand the mindset, I think, of people that really only care about the sustenance of
their own comfort, whether they be dependent upon political handouts as part of the lower classes or the upper classes.
I get all of that. I don't like any of it.
I believe we are at a turning point. We either believe in each other or we don't. It may sound cliche, but I really believe that there are enough
of us to make a difference, and change the world, if we actually BELIEVE.
It can't end here, even if Romney wins. It has to continue for as long as people have the capacity to think for themselves.

I was a republican for 40 years, but I'm not any more, and never will be again. 2010 was their last chance to get me back aboard, and all they would
have had to have done was flash a Republican at me from somewhere within the GOP. That didn't happen then, and its not happening now. The GOP is a
lost cause. I'm abandoning it for higher ground, and not looking back.

I'm not even following the GOP Dog and Pony show these days. I don't care what they do, any more than I care what the DNC does. I see no difference
at all between the two, and as a matter of fact, two of the GOP front runners ARE "former" Democrats. They just swapped labels, but the contents are
interchangeable, and that goes for ALL of the GOP candidates.

Republicrats, Demicans, they are all the same thing - owned men.

Sure, you're right, there ARE enough of us to make a difference, but it will take more than just believing. As long as they can keep us riveted to
the show, believing there's some kind of superficial "difference", and at each others throats over the fictional differences, that "something
more" will never get done.

Have been reading this website for over 1 YR. Finally registered so I could post. My wife and I attended the IA caucus in Poweshiek County, District
10, Montezuma. She has been a trained and registered pollwatcher in the past elections-national/local levels. At the caucus four yrs ago the votes
were in an open room-held up and shown to everyone, with a representative of each candidate observing also. This time the ballots were taken to a
back room with no cameras allowed or were representatives of the candidates. The results were read and the people were dismissed. The airwaves on
WHO radio (Des Moines) for the last 2 days are rife with discrepancies from people who attended with conflictions of tabulations of the results
reported to the state GOP. The official word from the state GOP is that we will have to "wait" for the final "CERTIFIED" results. (should have
loaded up some livestock to have voted)

Des Moines TV station KCCI reported that a Ron Paul backer attending his first precinct caucuses in Appanoose County, in southern Iowa, said the
vote from his precinct was inaccurately reported and gave Romney 20 more votes than he actually received.

This is only the beginning, we all know in our hearts that the votes for President are rigged and set up.... Dems were screamin about it with Bush Vs
Gore in FL and the Reps ignored them. What is happening now is that they have to create the illusion that everyone is for this guy Romney who has the
blessing from on high... that way there will be more of the same... Which there will be until Americans stand up for truth!

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.